I'm LEAVING Ft. Pierce today headed to Marathon, FL

OOOooops I did it again.  We didnt quite get away as planned to Marathon.  When I tried to back up, out of the slip, the wind and current crashed me up against the pilings.  (Dejavu from my unflattering arrival)  I didnt hurt anything or anyone, but i did slam into the huge fiberglass pilings and manage to give the entire marina a big entertaining morning show.  My sweet friendly neighbors had come out to see us off (probably to insure we really did leave) and helped us untie the lines as we carefully backed out into the marina fairway.  Then things went a little sideways...

I had checked the tide charts to avoid another nasty scare and crash like i got when i arrived here.  But somehow even with my careful planning - I screwed up.  By the time we started backing out, the tide had turned and was going out and pushing us toward the pilings.  You know the rest - we slammed into the poles and hung on for dear life.

 Doug, Charles, Skip @ Pierced Cider

The Pierced Crew: Savannah, Joanna, Chelsea, Hannah.

Fortunately i have two great volunteer crew;  Doug Haye from the famous sailing state of Wyoming and Charles Anglin from the equally salty location of Fort Worth, Texas.  They didnt panic in the face of terror.  They grabbed the pilings and tied us off so we can wait for the next 'slack' tide.  I spoke with Dean Kubitschek the marina manager and he is going to help us move to a different slip for the night at 4pm when the tide turns - no charge - and we will have a do-over in the morning....  So for the next few hours, we are quite the site!  (we will probably be on other peoples blogs as that idiot from Arkansas tied sideways, again)

Look out Marathon, here we come!  Just not today.

Some days its tough to be a Pirate!    xo Skip